Newspapers adapt to technology

Tuesday

Feb 5, 2013 at 5:00 AM

Facebook, Twitter among the new tools reporters are using to spread information.

By Don SteeleDodge City Daily Globe

You may have noticed that the Internet has changed the way many industries do business, if they are still in business at all.Think of the changes in the banking industry, the music and books industry, the movie rental business. Newspapers are certainly also affected by technological innovations.Gone are the days when a young boy or girl could have a newspaper route after school to make a little extra money. As the industry adapts to 21st century forms of communication, there are still those who can't start their morning properly without their newspaper and cup of coffee, but there are also those who get their news from dozens of other sources that didn't exist 20 years ago: all-news television stations, satellite radio, websites based on narrowly-focused demographics.The entire newspaper industry is working to find a path for the future.Even major metropolitan newspapers have cut back the number of issues they publish each week. And media outlets everywhere are experimenting with ways to effectively put their content online while still generating enough revenue to cover costs.Gatehouse Media, the Daily Globe's parent company, has a plan that's continually being adapted. The company's 2013 plan calls for innovations like a feature called "Seen on Scene," which will include photos of the community taken at various events every week.Globe reporters will also be posting video from breaking news or special events every week.There will be at least four postings each day from the Globe on Facebook.And each reporter will tweet twice a day on a regular basis and more often when covering breaking news.The tweets will cover everything from reminders about upcoming events to recommendations about where to have lunch. Industry research points to the importance of this new presence to get the news out.The statistics are impressive: there were 175 million tweets sent every day in 2012.Thirty-two percent of all Internet users are on Twitter.Eleven Twitter accounts are created every second.So if you're the person who absolutely needs the newspaper in your hand to get your morning started, keep reading.If you like your news on the go, connect with your Daily Globe via Facebook or Twitter.